2007 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast

Now here is a wine that I have been dying to try since I placed my order this time last year, and it has been hard to wait this long, but I figured the wait from their arrival last March would be worth it. Needless to say, it was indeed! If I didn’t have a few more of these young babies sleeping in the cellar, I would probably be a little hesitant to pop one, but with a few more, it is always fun to try a wine in its infant stages. We have not had many ’07 pinot noir yet, and this is by far the best that we have had. Popped and poured tonight with sushi at Wasabi in Mount Lauren, NJ, this had a gorgeous dark purple ruby color in the glass. Absolutely gorgeous. We let it “decant” in the glass for a good 20 minutes as we were waiting for others to show up, and from just 2 feet away, you could smell it’s enormous nose. Tons of jammy cherries on the nose, with subtle hints of raspberry and citrus notes. There were also hints of vanilla and spice, which I attribute to the oak used on this wine. On the palate, the first glass almost seemed a bit thin and was disappointed. I drank about ½ of the glass, and refilled, and wow what a different. I have no idea why the first glass may have been so thin, but the refill was nothing at all like the first, and boy what a pleasure it was. This wine is BIG, with lots of nice fruit that I did not find over-ripe, or candied in the least. More HUGE cherry, strawberry, and raspberry notes that exploded in your mouth. At $25 a bottle, this is by far one of the best pinot noir I have had in this price range. You can tell that TRB put some heart and soul into this wine, and he really does know these grapes, and knows how to make something beautiful from them. The finish was as pleasant as pleasant can be, with a mild acidity, the perfect amount of tannin, and next to no heat at all. This bottle was really in a great place, and I look forward to the rest. One thing I will note is that there was a ton of sediment in this bottle, but it didn’t show until there was next to nothing in the bottom of my glass, and this is no worry whatsoever. All in all, a great pinot for the money that I would love to find some more of. Gorgeous and worthy of 92 points. Cheers!